Distorted views can be changed … sometimes

I have a distorted view of the world around me. You may be
thinking that I have had an awakening and started listening to Rush and the
other conservative talk radio personalities. But no, that’s not quite it.

Over the last year or so I have had
a severe loss of my vision. As a result I have a distorted view of the physical
world. I know that to be true because I used to b able to see the world quite
clearly through the use of corrective lenses. Even then, without my glasses, my
view of the world was pretty distorted because of myopia and astigmatism.

In addition to vision, our taste,
touch, feel, and hearing all add to our view of the natural world. All of these
can be defective and all can be assisted or corrected to some extent so that we
can get a fairly accurate view of the physical world.

World view

There
is another view of the world, however, that transcends the physical. It
involves the purpose and meaning of life. it
encompasses the answer to the question: why am I here?It’s a question that has been asked from the
time human beings gained sonsciousness.

The
answer to that questionis at the essece of what we call our
“world view”. Each person’s world view is formed by the many human experiences
we all have: family upbringing, education, jobs and just plain living.

For many of us, I suspect, our
world view is formed unconsciously or automatically. We don’t generally examine
all those aspects of our lives. Or if we do, the examination is cursory and
sporadic rather than intentional.

My life experiences, for example,
included birth into a family of boys on a farm in northern Michigan. I wento the local public school through the ninth grade.
Then I went to an all boys boarding school for six
years. Finally I finished my bachelor’s degree at a Catholic college and a
master’s degree at a public university.

Anyone
could have those experiences, but it is how I assimilated them into my life
that has led to my world view, which is reflected in all my columns and in all
I say and do.

As I indicated above, I have a
distorted view of the physical world. This distortion can be tested fairly easily.
Defects in sensory perception can be adjusted and even corrected in many cases.

Unfortunately, we cannot say the
same about our distortions in world view, butthere are aids in correcting our world
view. Some of themare:
1) developoing an open attitude, 2) communication
with others, especially those with different points of view, and3) education both formal and informal.

The most difficult area to amendin our world view is the one related to religion.
Religion has a power that sometimes closes our minds to an openness to other pointsof view.

There is a radical understanding in
Islam that sees the western cultre as corrupt and
wants it kept away from Islam. and needs to be
destroyed

There is also a strand of
Christianity that is very similar in its views and tactics that is equally
dangerous.

This Christian view says that it
has the right and only world view and would like to impose that world view oon everyone else.

In radical forms, this viewshows up in the congregation
of Rev. Fred Phelps in Wichita.
People from this little Baptist church go around the country protesting at
funerals. Their message centers on their hatred of gays.

This view shows up in the murder of
doctors and nurses at abortion clinics. It shows upin attitudes of religious superiority
and self-righteousness.

Regardless of our world view, let
us examine the underpinnings to see if there are distortions. Let us talk to
each other with love and compassion. Let us work for solutions to problems with
one of the fundamental principles of all the major religions: “do unto others
as you would have them do unto you.”